Track for toy vehicles



March 31, 1953 w. M. HADAWAY TRACK FOR TOY VEHICLES 2 SHEETS-Si-IEET 2 Filed Oct. 20, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

m a M m w Patented Mar. 31, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACK FOR TOY VEHICLES Wilfred M. Hadaway, Wilmington, Calif.

Application October 20, 1950, Serial No. 191,153

' Claims. (onion-9s) This invention relates to improvements in toy suspension railways, and among the objects oi. the invention is to provide an improved mobile toy set or assembly of this character having a closed circuit track which can be detachably mounted in substantially horizontal position on a suitable support, such as a table, and a toy suspension car removably suspended from the track for movement therearound, the car being driven by its own spring motor or equivalent mechanism for propelling it around the track, the setbeing simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, easy to set up in operative condition, and neat and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with'the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a fragmentary portion of the assembly mounted on a supporting table also fragmentarily illustrated in side elevation;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the assembly i1- lustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale of the suspension car;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the car illustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross sectional view I on the line 5--5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 6-43 of Figure 3;

Figure "I is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 1-4 of Figure 2 showing a track standard with a portion broken away and shown in cross section to better illustrate the construction thereof and Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view on an enlarged scale and partly in longitudinal cross-section, showing assembly of two adjacent sections of the track.

With continued reference to the drawings, the illustrated toy railway set comprises a track assembly, generally indicated at It, mounted on a suitable support, such as the table generally indicated at H and supporting the toy suspension car, generally indicated at 12.

The track assembly l0 comprises a closed circuit track I3 of generally elliptical shape including a plurality of separable sections, as indicated at 14, joined together in end to end relationship by suitable means, such as the screw threaded socket joint illustrated in Figure 8, the sections being provided on their adjacent ends with oo- 2 axial studs 16 which are oppositely threaded and are engaged in correspondingly threaded axial recesses in the opposite ends of a coupling member l5. Each track section is secured to a track' support l8.

Each support 18 includes .an angle bracket 20 involving legs 2| and 22 disposed perpendicularly to each other. An axial extension 23, smaller in diameter than the horizontal leg 2| extends outwardly from the distal end of the leg 2! and a tubular bar 24 receives the extension 23 in one end thereof and is rigidly secured at its other end to the track section It intermediate the length of the latter. The extension 23 is slidable longitudinally relative to the bar 24 so that the bracket 20 can be disposed at adjusted distances from the corresponding track section. A set screw 25 is threaded through a tapped hole in the bar 24 and engages the extension 23 to lock the bar and the extension in selected positions of adjustment relative to each other.

An axial extension 26, smaller in diameter than the vertical bracket leg 22, depends from the lowor end of this leg, and a tubular post or standard 21 telescopically receives the extension 26 in its upper end. A fixed clamp plate 28 is secured to the lower end of the post 27 and a movable clamp plate 29 is slidably mounted on the post and a set screw 30 extends through a tapped hole in the plate 29 to lock this plate in adjusted position longitudinally of the post 2']. Another set screw 3| is threaded through a tapped hole in the post 21 adjacent the end of the post remote from the clamp plate 23 and engages the bracket extension 26 to lock the extension in adjusted position in the post to supportthe associated track section It at a desired height above the top of the table ii.

The clamp plates 23 and 29 extend in the same direction from the post 21 and are disposed at the bottom and top sides respectively of the edge of the table top 32 to rigidly secure the post at its bottom end to thetable top so that the standard including the post 2? will extend upwardly from the table top substantially perpendicular thereto. The adjacent faces of the clamp plates are preferably covered with a covering of resilient material, such as rubber or baize, so that the clamp plates will not injure the surface of the table.

When the standards l8 are mounted on the table top around the edges thereof and properly adjusted, the elliptical track I3 is supported above the table top substantially parallel thereto.

The car l2, as particularly illustrated in Figures 3 to 6 inclusive, comprises a thin walled hollow body 35 of streamlined shape having a generally circular cross section and having a relatively narrow longitudinal open top extension 36 on its upper side. The extension 36 involves spaced parallel side walls 3'! and 38, the side wall 31 rising above the side wall 38. Track-engaging wheels 39 and 40 are journaled on stub axles 4| and 42, respectively, projecting laterally inwardly from the side wall 31 at spaced apart locations along the extension 36 at a level above the upper edge of the side wall 38, the lower edges of the wheels being spaced above the upper edge of the side wall 31 to facilitate placing the wheels upon the track i3. The opposite ends of the side walls 31 and 38 are connected by end walls 31 and 38', respectively, which have notches 39 in their upper edges to accommodate the track.

A manually wound spring motor 4| is mounted on an axle 4| journaled at its ends in the side walls of the body 35 of the car below the extension 36 and a winding key 43 is provided on one end of the axle 4|" exteriorly of the body 35 of the car. The axle 4|" is drivingly connected by a pinion 44 to a power dividing or distributing gear 45 mounted on an axle 46 journaled at its opposite ends in the side walls 31 and 38 of the extension 36.

The gear 45 meshes with the pinion 44 and two gears 41 and 48 disposed at respectively opposite sides of the gear 45 are in mesh therewith and are mounted on axles 49 and 59, respectively, journaled at their opposite ends in the side walls 31 and 3B of the housing extension 36. A gear is mounted on the axle 4| adjacent to the trackengaging wheel 39 and a similar gear 52 is mounted on the axle 42 adjacent to the trackengaging wheel 46. An idler gear 53 drivingly connects the gear 41 to the gear 5|, and a similar idler gear 54 drivingly connects the gear 43 to the gear 52.

With this arrangement, both of the wheels 39 and 40 are driven in the same direction by spring motor 4| and will propel the car I2 in a forward direction along the track I3.

The wheels 39 and 46 are peripherally grooved to receive the tracks and maintain the car thereon against accidental displacement.

Interiorly the car is provided with an upper longitudinally extending horizontal partition 55 which extends rearwardly from a vertical transverse partition 56 near the front end of the car to the wall of the car near the rear end of the latter to constitute the bottom of a compartment for the spring motor and gear trains described above.

While a spring motor and associated gear train have been described for propelling the car, it is to be understood that the car can be propelled by an electric motor or other mechanism, as may be desired. In the arrangement illustrated and described, a brake lever 51 is pivotally mounted on the side wall 38 of the extension 36 and extends through an aperture in this side wall to engage the gear 41 and hold the gears against rotation when it is desired to stop the car. This lever is manually releasable from the gear 41 to free the motor for driving the car along the track.

A longitudinally extending horizontal floor or partition 58 is provided in the car body and is spaced below the partition 55, and a second horizontal floor or partition 59 extends longitudinally of the car body andis spaced downwardlyfrom the [floor or partition 58, these partitions 58and 59 providing passenger compartments 60 and 6|,

4 and a baggage compartment 62 between the partition 5a and the bottbm of the car.

Transparent lenses 63 and 64 are provided in the front and rear ends, respectively, of the car, and small electric lamps 65 and 66, respectively, are mounted in the car adjacent to these lenses. Electrical energy is supplied to the lamps from a flashlight battery 61 mounted in the car near the rear lamp 66 and controlled by a suitable manually operated switch, not illustrated.

Where the car is powered by an electric motor, the lamps may be connected to the electric motor circuit and the flashlight battery 61 omitted.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, being intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy suspension railway, a plurality of standards comprising vertical posts having clamp means on their lower ends for clamping the standards on spaced parts of a horizontal support in laterally spaced relation to each other, angle brackets on the upper ends of the posts including vertical arms and horizontal arms, the horizontal arms projecting laterally from the posts, a track section fixed on each horizontal bracket arm, the opposite ends of the track sections being adjacent to corresponding ends of track sections of laterally adjacent posts, and means separably connecting the adjacent ends of adjacent track sections together.

2. In a toy suspension railway, a plurality of standards comprising vertical posts having clamp means on their lower ends for clamping the standards on spaced parts of a horizontal support in laterally spaced relation to each other, angle brackets on the upper ends of the posts including vertical arms and horizontal arms, the horizontal arms projecting laterally from the posts, a track section fixed on each horizontal bracket arm, the opposite ends of the track sections being adjacent to corresponding ends of track sections of laterally adjacent posts, and means separably connecting the adjacent ends of adjacent track sections together comprising connecting members positioned between adjacent track sections, said members having threaded sockets in their opposite ends, and threaded studs on the track section ends engaged in the sockets.

3. In a toy suspension railway, a plurality of standards comprising vertical posts having clamp means on their lower ends for clamping the standards on spaced parts of a horizontal support in laterally spaced relation to each other,

angle brackets on the upper ends of the posts including vertical arms and horizontal arms, the horizontal arms projecting laterally from the posts, a track section fixed on each horizontal bracket arm, the opposite ends of the track sections being adjacent to corresponding ends of track sections of laterally adjacent posts, and means separably connecting the adjacent ends of adjacent track sections together comprising connecting members positioned between and securably engaging adjacent ends of track sections.

4. In a toy suspension railway, a plurality of standards comprising vertical posts having clamp means on their lower ends for clamping the standards on spaced parts of a horizontal support in laterally spaced relation to each other, angle brackets on the upper ends of the posts including vertical arms and horizontal arms, the horizontal arms projecting laterally from the posts, a track section fixed on each horizontal bracket arm, the opposite ends of the track sections being adjacent to corresponding ends of track sections of laterally adjacent posts, and means separably connecting the adjacent ends of adjacent track sections together, said vertical arms of the angle brackets being vertically adjustably mounted on the posts.

5. 'In a toy suspension railway, a plurality of standards comprising vertical posts having clamp means on their lower ends for clamping the standards on spaced parts of a horizontal support in laterally spaced relation to each other, angle brackets on the upper ends of the posts including vertical arms and horizontal arms, the horizontal arms projecting laterally from the posts, a track section fixed on each horizontal REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,252,306 Sassil Jan. 1, 1918 1,506,613 Camp Aug. 26, 1924 1,789,872 Kruckenberg et a1. Jan. 20, 1931 2,083,218 Carter June 8, 1937 2,132,187 Rand Oct. 4, 1938 

